Why You Should Increase Your Credit Score
Published June 22, 2010 | 
A good credit score is the key to a lot of opportunities these days. A score can open up the door to a lot of opportunities and conversely, can shut the door of opportunities, depending on the credit ratings. An individual with a good credit score gets a preference over an individual with a lower credit score in loan applications for just about any product and is also favorably considered for a job application. In other words, high score is viewed as an indicator of the financial credibility and integrity of an individual.
Let us take a look at the reasons why you need to increase it.
First, if you increase your credit score, your loan applications will be favorably considered by the banks and other financial institutions. Credit scores are checked for loan applications for just about any product (for example, home, car, and consumer). The credit rating agencies and the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) rate your credit worthiness and their ratings form the basis of the decisions by the banks on loan applications.
Additionally, you might also be eligible for other benefits like lower interest rates and friendly offers for additional loan products. These benefits are however, extended at the sole discretion of the banks.
Second, credit scores these days are being considered as one of the qualifying criteria for awarding a job to an individual. Obviously, the higher your score the better are the chances of an individual to secure a job and vice versa.
Linking the chances of getting a job to the credit scores has been criticized from many quarters as many think that this is unfair and credit ratings of an individual has no relation with the qualifications and skills for a job. However, the truth for the time being is that the employers do consider credit rating as a criterion for candidate screening. This is the reason you need to increase your score.
The paramount importance that is accorded to credit rating in determining an individual’s financial credibility and integrity naturally has not been universally accepted. Many people hold that the entire system is faulty. According to these people, while the past can be an indicator of an individual’s financial credibility, it cannot really form the sole basis of a judgment for the future.
For example, an individual with a low score but with an improved financial position applies for a loan and is denied the loan. In such cases, what is important is to not only take into account the past, but also the circumstances that led to a low credit score. What are also important are the individual’s current financial position and the current credit worthiness and loan repayment capability.
Guide to Building Business Credit
Published June 22, 2010 | Businesses do not just magically have all the money they need to do what they want. They need to sometimes borrow money like normal everyday people. They need to get loans, and like normal people, they need good credit in order to get the loans they need. They can not just get any loan they want when they need it. Businesses need to build credit. Some people do not know what to do when it comes to building business credit. There are many things a business can do to build credit and many different methods they can use to go about it.
There are two things that businesses can do when they are in the process of building business credit. One the best things to do is set up a business using a very simple and basic structure. This will help your business appear strong and stable to credit bureaus. Another thing that can help a business looking to build its credit is to buy products and borrow products from companies that will report their credit history. Mostly large and stable businesses are the ones with the highest credit scores. There are also a few things to watch out for when trying to build business credit. A few things businesses should not do is try to buy good credit, spend a lot of money on a shelf corporation, and try to get good business credit to replace bad personal credit. Another good way, that business use when building business credit, is building it online.
There are also a few things businesses need to know about building business credit online. One thing a business needs to do is make sure it has all of the necessary licenses, permits, and other important documents. It is a good idea to have a phone line dedicated to business and have a listing in for the business in the phone book. Also it is a good idea to use the same business address on everything that has to do with the business and requires an address. Doing all these thing will help in company having trouble building business credit. These and other tips will help any company build the credit they need.
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Sherry Gain is an advocate for entrepreneurs and small business owners alike. He freely shares his knowledge and experience and with his guidance your small business will be empowered to succeed. Find out more by visiting BusinessSmallBusinessCredit.com. |
Ten Greatest Myths About Your Credit
Published June 22, 2010 | By: Alison Feliciano
Submitted: 03:40PM on Thursday 17 June 2010
Credit Agencies are empowered with some kind of governmental authority.
Credit agencies have no legal authority at all, they are simply private companies who are in the business of selling credit information.
• The credit agencies are required by law to keep derogatory items on your credit report for 7 to 10 years.
There is no law that the credit agencies report anything on you at all. Just the opposite is true! Credit Agencies are required by law to automatically remove all derogatory items older than 7 years or in the case of a bankruptcy, 10 years.
• It is impossible to get a bankruptcy off.
Bankruptcies come off just like any other derogatory that is incorrectly reported, obsolete, erroneous, misleading, incomplete, or that cannot be verified. Remember, the nature of the item has nothing to do with its removal under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
• The information on your credit report cannot be changed.
The opposite is true under the Fair Credit Reporting Act; both the federal and various state laws REQUIRE that items be removed if they are not 100% accurate or cannot be verified in a timely manner.
• It is illegal or immoral to have the information on your credit report altered or removed.
Not only is it not illegal or immoral, but it is what the Fair Credit Reporting Act is all about. It was enacted by congress for the very purpose of protecting consumers from the intrusion of the credit agencies into our lives.
• Paying a past due debt removes it from your credit report.
Just because you pay an old debt does not change or erase the fact that at one time you were not paying on it as you agreed. Can this record be changed? Absolutely!
• Inquiries are not derogatory and will not affect your credit standing.
Anything that erodes your financial credibility is damaging to your credit standing. In the case of inquiries, one or two is not too bad, but any more than that and they begin to tell a story of their own. Any prospective credit grantor will look at your credit report and think that you are desperate for credit.
• If you get a derogatory item removed, it will just come back.
Not if it is removed legally. When it is removed with cause under the Fair Credit reporting Act it cannot legally be placed back on your credit report. The same law that required its removal prohibits it from being placed back on.
• The past equals the future.
This is the biggest myth of all. The concept that once bad, always bad, or at least for 7 years is totally false. Anybody can run into hard times or an emergency situation now and then, but that doesn’t automatically mean that they are a poor credit risk for a magical 7 years. The simple truth is, no credit report can predict the future.
• I cannot restore my credit.
Yes, you can! You can try to do it yourself (just like you can be your own attorney in a court of law). OR, you can allow licensed professionals to educate you and assist you in restoring your credit profile